Delaware’s Company Registry (2026 Update)

You cannot verify the owner of a Delaware-registered entity through Delaware's Division of Corporations. Delaware does not collect ownership information and never has. For LLCs – the most common vehicle – the state does not even require a member's or manager's name to be filed. The registered agent is the only person publicly associated with the entity. 

For compliance teams, that means the registry confirms one thing reliably: the entity exists. At best, you are buying documents that tell you who the directors are (for corporations only), whether the company is in good standing, and what it has filed. None of that tells you who owns it. 

This guide explains everything you need to know.

An Introduction to Delaware's Division of Corporations

You can register a company in Delaware without disclosing who owns it. No shareholder names or beneficial owners. The state does not ask, and it does not require anyone to say. 

To register, you appoint a licensed registered agent – a person or entity with a physical address in Delaware who accepts court documents and official communications on the entity's behalf. The agent submits their own name and address. An incorporator signs the Certificate of Formation. Neither needs to be the owner. 

Under Title 8 of the Delaware Code, registered agents serving 50 or more entities must screen the contact details of the person engaging with them against OFAC sanctions lists, quarterly. They are not required to publish that information or share it with the state. Agents serving fewer than 50 entities have no screening obligation at all. 

The whole process takes about 30 minutes. When it is done, the public record shows the entity name, the registered agent, and the incorporator's signature. The owner remains invisible by design.

What Information Is Available?

• Basic: Name, incorporation date, entity type, and status. 

• Address: Office location (for General Corporations only). 

• Officers: Director names and addresses (for General Corporations only). 

• Legal: Name, address and phone number of the registered agent, and the named Authorised Person. 

No ownership data: Delaware doesn’t publish any ownership information, either shareholder or beneficial owner.

Delaware Entities

General Corporation (Domestic)

Files a Certificate of Incorporation at formation: entity name, registered agent, share structure, and one incorporator's signature. No owners or directors are required at that stage.  

Must file an Annual Report by 1 March each year: This can be purchased, disclosing the registered office address, the registered agent's name, the nature of the business, the corporation's principal place of business (which cannot be the registered agent's address), the names and addresses of all directors, the name and address of the signing officer, and the number and par value of authorised shares. 

What is not public: Tax and shareholder information. 

Foreign Corporation

Same Annual Report obligation as a domestic corporation, due 30 June. 

The original jurisdiction of formation is on record. Director names appear on the report. Shareholders are not filed. 

LLC

Files a Certificate of Formation: entity name and registered agent only. Pays $300 annual tax by 1 June.  

Files no annual report, ever. No member or manager names enter the public record at any point unless voluntarily filed. The registered agent is the only person publicly associated with the entity. 

Limited Partnership (LP)

Files a Certificate of Limited Partnership. General partner names may appear in the formation document; limited partner names are not required and are not public. Pays $300 annual tax. No annual report. 

General Partnership (GP)

Filing is optional. If a Statement of Partnership Existence is filed, the public record shows the entity name, registered agent, and filing date. Partner names are not required. Pays a $300 annual tax if registered. No annual report. 

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

Files a Statement of Qualification. Partner names are not required on the formation document. Pays $300 annual tax. No annual report. 

Statutory Trust Files a Certificate of Trust. Trustee and beneficiary names are not required in public filings. Pays $300 annual tax. No annual report. 

What every registered entity has in common: The Division's free search returns the same data for all of them: entity name, file number, formation date, registered agent name and address, entity kind, type, and residency. 

The one meaningful distinction: Only domestic and foreign corporations must file an Annual Report. It discloses directors, not owners. For an LLC, LP, LLP, GP, or Statutory Trust, the registered agent is the only name the state ever makes public. The owner remains invisible by design.

How to Search the Delaware Division of Corporations

The Kyckr Team accessed the Division of Corporations on 24 March, 2026. This is what we found:

1. Go to the Website. 

Go to Delaware’s online services website, corp.delaware.gov.

2. Search For an Entity.

Click the search bar. Click ‘Search for a business entity’. Search for an entity by name or file number. Click ‘Search’. The results will appear.  

3. View Results.

The search will show a list of companies operating under the name. Each search displays a maximum of 50 results. 

Remember: Active and Inactive entities appear in the results. Neither confirms whether the company is in good standing.

4. Select Entity.

You’ll see free basic information:  

• File Number. 

• Incorporation Date. 

• Entity Kind (e.g., LLC). 

• Entity Type (e.g., General). 

• State. 

• Residency (E.g., Domestic or Foreign). 

• Registered Agent: Name, address, and phone number.

5. Purchase Documents.

For more information, you must purchase company filings. 

Available Documents (2026 Update)

According to the Division of Corporations’ latest fee schedule (August 2024), these are the documents you can purchase and order: 

• Company Status ($10): This shows whether a company is active or inactive. 

• Current Franchise Tax Assessment ($20): Contains the company name and the name and address of the registration agent, status with last 5 filings, authorised shares, and tax due. 

• Certificates of Formation ($20): Don’t contain the officers’ names, only those of the Registered Agent and the Authorised Person, who signed the Certificate of Formation. 

• Annual Franchise Report ($20): General Corporations must list their directors’ names and addresses, and their office’s location. These can be purchased from the Document Filing and Certificate Request Service. 

• Certified Copies of any document ($50)

• Good Standing Short Form ($50)

• Good Standing Long Form ($175): For domestic entities only. 

For ownership verification: According to the FATF, you must use the ‘Senior management’ fallback option when verifying the ownership or control of Delaware entities.

APIs and Open Data

The Delaware Division of Corporations does not offer a public API, bulk data download, or enterprise integration. Access is limited to the manual web portal, paid web services, and mailed certificate requests. 

Enterprise teams needing programmatic access to Delaware entity data have no official route. 

There’s an alternative: Kyckr provides live access to the Delaware Division of Corporations, returning structured company data in real time.

Recent Reforms (2026 Update)

No Beneficial Ownership Data

On 26 March 2025, the Trump administration exempted US-registered firms from the requirement to submit beneficial ownership disclosures to FinCEN. Only foreign entities must do so. This is an interim rule. FinCEN’s final ruling is yet to be made. 

An End to Virtual Registered Agents

As of August 2025, new Delaware statutory changes require all registered agents to maintain a physical office presence in the state with regular business hours, replacing prior acceptance of virtual office providers and mail-forwarding services. 

New "Nature of Business" Disclosure Requirement

Starting with the 2025 report year (due 1 March 2026), Delaware now requires domestic corporations to disclose their nature of business on the Annual Franchise Report. The filing system will not accept a submission without it.

Access Structured Delaware KYB Data Instantly

Kyckr connects directly to the Division of Corporations and 300 other official registries in real time, giving compliance teams the structured data and documents they need to trace corporate structures across borders.

Frequently Asked Questions

What documents can I get from the Delaware Division of Corporations?

The main documents available for purchase are: company status ($10), current franchise tax assessment ($20), certificate of formation ($20), annual franchise report ($20), certified copies of any filing ($50), short-form good standing certificate ($50), and long-form good standing certificate ($175, domestic entities only). The annual franchise report is the only document that discloses director names, and only for General Corporations. No document discloses ownership. 

Does Delaware offer an API for company data?

No. The Division of Corporations provides no public API, no bulk data download, and no enterprise integration. All access goes through the manual web portal at corp.delaware.gov, paid document requests, or mailed certificates. Kyckr connects directly to the Division of Corporations and returns structured company data in real time, without manual searches or per-document fees. 

Does Delaware publish beneficial ownership information?

No. Delaware has never collected it. The state does not ask for owner names at formation, does not require them in annual filings, and has no UBO register. At the federal level, domestic US entities were exempted from FinCEN beneficial ownership reporting in March 2025 under an interim rule. Only foreign entities registered in the US must now file with FinCEN. For a Delaware LLC, the registered agent is often the only name in the public record. 

Is the Delaware company registry free?

Partly. The Division of Corporations' basic search costs nothing and returns the entity name, file number, formation date, entity type, registered agent name and address, and filing status. Anything beyond that does cost money. Company status runs $10. An annual franchise report – the only document that lists directors – costs $20. A long-form good-standing certificate costs $175.